Cards Blow Out Bulldogs, 39-0

DAYTON - Waitsburg- Prescott crashed Dayton's homecoming party here Fri­day, breaking open a low- scoring game through one half with 31 points in the second to rout the winless Bulldogs, 39-0.

The first half was so ugly-marred by six turn­overs, nine penalties (one resulting in a safety), and five first downs between the two teams-it was a wonder either team scored at all.

But Waitsburg-Prescott did, thanks to Dayton's hold­ing penalty in the end zone that counted as a 2-point safety, and six points earned from a second quarter, short- field touchdown drive that ended with a blocked PAT. At half, WP clung to a tenu­ous, 8-0, lead.

WP cleaned up its turn­over problems in the second half, and turned to its ground game. The Cardinals rushed on 21 of 28 second half plays, grinding down and tir­ing a thin Bulldog squad that eventually broke down and allowed four touchdowns in the span of 7:32 of the late third and early fourth quar­ters.

WP's defense meanwhile continued its first-half domi­nance into the second half. The Cards allowed the Bull­dogs just 41 yards of offense in the first half, and allowed only slightly more - 74 yards - in the second half. WP forced a fumble, a pick and a safety in the first half. The Cards followed up with two more INTs in the second.

Most of WP's offensive output in the first half came courtesy of quarterback Ster­ling Eastman and sophomore receiver Chance Leroue. The duos' four connections ac­counted for 77 of WP's 130 yards of first half offense, and its only touchdown.

Big plays set the tone for the Cardinals, especially in the second half. WP finished the game with 13 plays of 12 yards or more. Eastman completed 4-of-7 passes in the second half for 143 yards-for a whopping 35.75 yards per catch.

"You can't ask for a better effort out of those kids," Day­ton head coach Dean Bick­elhaupt said of his 17-man Bulldog squad. "My game plan was right, it worked, the kids did their jobs, and it was shutting (WP) down. They were stymied for quite a little while. But they big-played us in the second half. I think we were getting a little physi­cally tired, and I could see it in the kids weren't tackling as well."

WP coach Jeff Bartlow seconded his Dayton coun­terpart's admiration of the Bulldog defense.

"We just had no rhythm on offense in the first half- none," Bartlow said. "I give Dayton a lot of credit for playing hard on every down. They just ran out of gas. We have more depth. Once we started throwing a little better, then Billy (Brown) gashed them with some runs. The second half was a gut check for us. We rallied around some changes, trying to pick up our momentum and thought processes on the field, and play with some aggression."

Bartlow also voiced displea­sure with his squad's numerous miscues.

"It comes down to turnovers and momentum, and how you lose momentum to turnovers," he said. "They gave us the ball on their 1-yard line (on a fum­ble) and we turn around and give them the ball right back (with a fumble on the very next play). The penalties hurt us bad. To­day, we had a touchdown called back. It's a discipline problem. It's going to beat us down the road against a team that's better."

Dayton is now, 0-6, on the year and, 0-4, in league. They play this Friday against Tri- Cities Prep at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco. WP is 5-1, 2-1. Friday, the Cards host Mabton for homecoming.

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Rushing: WP 183 (Eastman 8-10, Brown 16-166, Estes 6-8, Alexenko1-(-4), Lanning 2-3); Dayton 92 (Hackett 5-5, Lambert 7-(-11), Smith25-79, Frame 4-6, Spalinger 2-2, Sanchez 1-11).

Passing: WP 12-21-256 (Eastman 12-21-256, 2 TDs, 0 INTs); Dayton1-10-23 (Lambert 1-7-23, 3 INTs; Frame 0-2-0; Smith 0-1-0).

Receiving: WP (Estes 3-80, 1 TD; Brown 1-8; Leroue 4-77, 1 TD;Ebong 2-28; Thompkins 1-58, Alexenko 1-5); Dayton (Frame 1-23).

First Downs: WP 13 (Four in first half); Dayton 5.

Penalties: WP 9-78; Dayton 6-68.

Turnovers: WP 4 (All in first half); Dayton 4.